This blog was created for Niles Animal Hospital & Bird Medical Center by Peter S. Sakas DVM in an effort to provide information & discussion about animal related issues. It may move into some eccentric directions on occasion if the mood strikes me as I get more comfortable in this form of communication. I am open to suggestions & comments about the blog. Also view our hospital website www.nilesanimalhospital.com or Facebook page Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Shark's blood may harbor human breast cancer cure

Shark's blood may harbor human breast cancer cure

By ANI | ANI

Melbourne, Sept 27 (ANI): Researchers have claimed that a type of antibody found only in the blood of sharks could help tackle breast cancer.

It is thought that the unique IgNAR antibodies could be used to prevent the growth of cancer cells
and research into them could lead to the development of new drugs to
fight one of the most common form of the disease, News.com.au reported.

Biologists from the University of Aberdeen have been awarded 345,660 Australian dollars by Scottish cancer research charity the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) to carry out a three-year study.

Their work will focus on two molecules, HER2 and HER3, found on the
surface of cancer cells which, when they pair-up, are responsible for
signalling cancer cells to grow and divide.

Potentially, IgNAR antibodies could be used to stop these molecules from working and sending the signal.

Dr Helen Dooley
who is from the university's School of Biological Sciences and will
lead the study sais that IgNAR antibodies are interesting because they
bind to targets, such as viruses or parasites, in a very different way
to the antibodies found in humans. (ANI)

(Glad to hear this, but then, might this lead to harvesting of sharks for their blood to save human lives? A moral dilemma for sure. Hopefully, they can refine the research and create synthetic or genetically engineered antobodies that will do the job.)